Global Entrepreneurship

Global interdependence is hardly a new idea, nor is the importance of an international perspective. People, information, products, and ideas flow across borders at an unprecedented rate. While Kauffman Foundation grant dollars remain in Kansas City and the United States, our reach extends beyond their own national boundaries to engage in a worldwide dialogue to enhance the conduct of global affairs. In this internationally integrated environment a growing number of countries look to the United States and the Kauffman Foundation to understand how to best emulate our entrepreneurial economy. 

Initiatives

  • Expeditionary Economics (EE), in the view of the Kauffman Foundation, is a framework for thinking about how to stimulate economic growth in post-combat/post-catastrophe zones where the American military is about to perform, is performing, or has concluded a mission.

  • Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world's largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.

  • Immigration and the American Economy thumbnailHigh-skilled immigrants have provided one of America's greatest competitive advantages. Their education and skills, their hunger to share in the American dream, their knowledge of world markets, their entrepreneurial drive, and hundreds of thousands of jobs created as a result all have fueled growth in the American economy. Yet their contributions have not been well-documented.

    To fill the void, the Kauffman Foundation has funded a series of studies based on an initial report by Duke University researcher Vivek Wadhwa called America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs.

  • The Kauffman Global Scholars Program fosters international entrepreneurship by immersing top young entrepreneurs from around the world in America's entrepreneurial culture.

     

  • The Kauffman-Singapore Scholars Program, created through a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will begin in May 2009 and offer a unique opportunity to study commercialization and entrepreneurship at the Nanyang Technopreneurship Center, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

  • Established in 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD) brings together the governments of countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the world to support sustainable economic growth.

Highlights

  • Winners of the 2012 Startup Open were announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week in mid-November. Judges evaluated the finalists on the GEW 50 list, and selected the winners based upon each startup's concept, growth projections and knowledge of its industry.

    Meet the Winners  

  • Kansas City’s entrepreneurial community shared Instagram photos depicting the 2012 celebration of #GEWKC. Check out the action in pictures, share yours and pass them on.

    See the Pics  

  • The Kauffman Foundation has funded a series of studies to examine the economic contributions of skilled legal immigrants in the United States, the obstacles they face with the U.S. immigration system, and what the implications are for the United States.

Featured Resources

  • Summaries from panel discussions from the Summit on Entrepreneurship and Expeditionary Economics, in which some of the foremost thinkers in military history, foreign policy, and economic growth shared their knowledge, experiences, and insights.

  • Knowledge Economy Immigration coverThe single most important policy reform that will boost long-term economic growth in the United States is to reduce the barriers facing highly skilled and highly educated immigrants.

  • WEF EE Exec Summary CoverThe World Economic Forum's Global Education Initiative (GEI) report, Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs provides specific recommendations for the academic, public, private and non-profit sectors to collaborate in supporting the development of entrepreneurship ecosystems, in which education is a key driver.